Healthy and able seniors should be allowed to continue working without discrimination, a Human Rights Commission representative declared at a meeting in Hamilton last night.

Sarah Clifford, education officer at the Commission, spoke out at a forum on ageing hosted by the Peace and Social Justice Committee of the Roman Catholic Church of Bermuda.

Also on the panel were Bishop Wesley Spiewak, head of the Roman Catholic Church of Bermuda; Claudette Fleming, director of Age Concern; and Craig Simmons, an economist and Bermuda College lecturer.

“Approximately 9,000 Bermudians are 65 or older — that’s 17 per cent of the population,” Ms Clifford told the audience at St Theresa’s Church Hall.

“We want to consider the emotional impact that being gainfully employed provides. The sense of community, security, wellbeing and independence.

“The complexity of the problem cannot negate the commitment to the principle of non-discrimination.”

Ms Fleming said the number of elderly people globally was set to skyrocket in years to come.

“It’s not just Bermuda that’s ageing, the world is ageing,” she said.

She suggested that opening up jobs to senior citizens could serve to help Bermuda’s economy, as well as preventing the elderly from suffering financially.

“Human rights and economic development go hand in hand,” Ms Fleming said.

“The average senior receives a pension of $783 a month after healthcare insurance payments. Many are just surviving.”

Mr Simmons warned, however, that laws had limits.

“I’m a bit sceptical about legislation in general,” he said. “As Martin Luther King said, it’s about changing the hearts of people, not what’s written in law. That’s the major challenge — changing the hearts of men and women.”

Bishop Spiewak said that, despite the problems associated with old age, a person’s autumn years should be viewed with optimism.

“It seems that in contemporary western culture, age is seen as a necessary inconvenience — a process to try to cover up,” he said.

“But, from a Christian perspective, age is a blessing. Life is a gift, and those who have lived many years are greatly gifted.”